A six-lane road overbridge (ROB) will be constructed to replace level crossing 2 on the Pattabiram military siding line.
The alignment has been approved and a general arrangement drawing submitted by the highways department for approval to Southern Railway, which will also contribute towards the construction.
The ROB is a long-pending demand of residents of Pattabiram, who, due to increased frequency of trains, are forced to wait for half-an-hour every hour for the gate to open.
K. Murugan, a resident of Charles Nagar in Pattabiram, welcomed the proposal and said that the crossing’s gate should be widened to reduce traffic jams on either side of it.
“It is a very narrow gate on Chennai-Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road and there is no alternative for it. Residents and other vehicles have to wait for at least half-an-hour if they get stuck at the gate,” he said.
Roy Rozario, a resident of Cholan Nagar in Pattabiram, said the gate is closed at least 34 times a day. “A few goods trains bound to the Food Corporation of India’s Avadi depot also take this track. Traffic gets completely choked. Work on Outer Ring Road is nearing completion and CTH Road is also being widened; construction of the ROB must be speeded up,” he said.
Sources in the Highways said though CTH Road is being widened to a four-lane facility, the bridge, considering future expansions, had been planned with six lanes. The State government had announced the road would initially be widened with four lanes and then, made into a six-lane facility.
Land plan scheduleThe land plan schedule is being prepared. Land acquisition will be required for the ROB and service lanes. Though administrative sanction for Rs. 30 crore was given in 2011 by the State government, the work was taken up only after CTH Road was transferred back under the control of the State highways department.
The 22-km stretch of the road from Padi to Thiruninravur was with National Highways of India, which is widening the remaining stretch up to Tirupathi.
